


you don't have to be so shy

by laminy



Series: tell me what you want [2]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Dirty Talk, First Time Blow Jobs, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Netflix and Chill, handjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:33:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laminy/pseuds/laminy
Summary: A couple weeks later, Jeff's got his B and Clay has a promise to fulfill (no pressure). He wants to, but too bad he still feels like he has no idea what to do.





	1. Chapter 1

“So.”

Clay jumps, not realizing until they spoke that someone is standing next to him at his locker. He looks up from his textbook, briefly annoyed until he sees who it is.

“Ha, sorry,” Jeff says with a smile. “Good news, bad news. What do you want first?”

“Uh, bad news?” Clay suggests, sliding the book back into his locker, turning towards him.

“Okay bad news,” Jeff says, “is that Monty just texted me saying that Coach has scheduled an emergency practice right after school, so I can’t make tutoring.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Clay says. “Don’t worry about it. We can make up for it later. What’s the good news?”

“The good news,” Jeff begins, tugging his backpack to the front and digging through it to pull out some papers, “is this.”

Clay takes the paper from Jeff, scanning the red handwritten notes at the top. _B, HUGE improvement!_ Clay quickly flips through the essay, realizing it’s the essay he’d helped Jeff with, then looks up at him in surprise before breaking into a huge grin. “A B!”

“A B!” Jeff repeats. “A fucking B!”

“Holy shit, Jeff, that’s awesome,” Clay says, nodding with excitement. “Wow. I mean, I knew you could do it. This is great.”

“That’s because I have a great tutor,” Jeff says, and he pulls Clay into a quick hug, squeezing him tightly before pulling back. “Seriously, Clay, you have no idea.”

“It was, it’s my pleasure,” Clay replies, a little dazed from the hug he wasn't expecting, especially not in school where everybody could see. “I just helped. This is all you. That’s your B.”

“So help me celebrate. After practice. We forget studying for tonight, I’ll pick you up. My parents are visiting my grandparents for their anniversary. We can watch a movie, order something in…”

Clay’s mouth goes dry as he considers Jeff’s offer, remembering the offer he had made to Jeff that Thursday night, the promise of what would happen if Jeff got at least a B-. And though Clay hadn’t gone to the away game, he knew from the morning announcements that had followed that Liberty High had won; he could only assume that Jeff had managed to get that double.

“Hey, no pressure,” Jeff says quickly, sensing Clay’s discomfort. “I’m not— that’s not why I’m asking.” He looks around the hallway, but no one is paying any attention to either of them just standing at Clay’s locker talking. “Listen, just because we already…” he waves his hand between them, “doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen again every time we hang out. I mean, I’m not _opposed_ to it happening again.” He laughs, and Clay smiles awkwardly, blushing and briefly looking away. “But listen, I just want to forget about all the studying and boring shit and Coach has been riding us all lately, so I’d really like it if you just came over to—”

“Netflix and chill?” Clay interrupts, smiling.

“Ha ha, yeah,” Jeff says, and he rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. “Except literally. _You_ helped with this, Clay, I want to thank you. Just think about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Clay agrees.

“Okay, cool,” Jeff says, starting to slowly walk backwards away from Clay. “I’m going to go, and I’m going to _assume_ that your answer is yes, so text me before 5:30 if it’s not. Don’t let me down, Clay!”

Clay nods. “I won’t,” he says, giving Jeff an awkward wave.

Jeff grins and winks before turning around, disappearing into the crowd of students making their way through the halls. 

Clay sighs heavily, falling back against the lockers. They’ve had a couple study sessions together in the library since that night but they haven’t been alone together since, except when Jeff offers Clay a ride home. Clay isn’t intentionally avoiding being alone with Jeff, but he hasn’t been going out of his way to be alone with him either. He honestly still feels a little embarrassed about what happened, and as much as he’d like to have it happen again, he doesn’t want to come on too strong and have Jeff think he’s too clingy and eager. But he can’t let Jeff down, right? After all, he deserves that B, and he deserves to celebrate however he wants, and if he wants to celebrate with Clay, then… Well, Clay can’t argue with that.

\+ + + + +

“Do you know when you’ll be home?” Lainie asks, watching Clay lean down to tie his shoes.

“Uh, no, sorry Mom,” Clay says, straightening up. “Not late? We’re just going to have something to eat and watch a movie. Nothing too exciting.”

“Can you be home by 10, please?” Lainie asks, pouring herself a mug of coffee, glancing down at the paperwork she has on the table in front of her.

“Oh, uh, sure,” Clay agrees uneasily, glancing over at his father.

“How about 11?” Matt suggests, smiling at Clay and then giving Lainie a shrug. “It’s not like we don’t know where he is and who he’s with. You’ve been tutoring this guy for awhile, right Clay?”

“Yeah,” Clay replies, nodding at his dad. “And this is the best mark he’s gotten so far, so…”

“So cause for celebration,” Matt says. “I think 11 is fine for tonight, don’t you, Lainie?”

Lainie sighs, and then finally smiles. She can’t do much when Matt is on Clay’s side, and it’s only for one night. “Well, since you are his tutor and he got a B, yes. 11 is fine.”

Clay grins at his mom, then looks down when he hears his phone. “Oh, he’s here! I’m going to head out.”

“Please no drinking,” Lainie says, standing up at her seat.

“Mom, we’re not drinking,” Clay says, glancing behind him and quickly grabbing his hoodie off the nearest chair. “Promise. We’re probably just ordering pizza or something.”

“Okay, well, just call if you get into any sort of trouble.”

Clay looks at his mom in confusion, not knowing what to say. 

“Okay, Lainie, I’m sure he’ll be fine. Have a good time, Clay,” Matt says, waving him off.

“Okay, thanks Dad. I’ll see you guys later.” Clay walks out of the kitchen and hurries out the front door, waving at Jeff as he walks down the porch steps. “Hey,” he says, climbing into the passenger side.

“How’s it going?” Jeff asks, putting the car in reverse, turning his head to get out of the Jensen’s driveway.

“Fine,” Clay replies, “just trying to get away from my mom and her 20 questions. No drinking, call her if I get into any trouble—”

Jeff laughs. “What kind of trouble is she expecting?”

Clays huffs and shrugs. “I have no idea. I don’t know what she expects. She can be kind of uptight. Dad is normal, at least.”

Jeff turns up the radio, singing along softly to himself, fingers drumming to the beat. Clay steals a glance at him, smiling lightly, and settles into his seat for the short drive. He’s trying as best he can to just remain calm and cool, and not freak out about the fact that they’re alone together. So far, it’s no different from being alone with any of his other friends. He can do this.

Clay opens his mouth to speak just as Jeff turns to ask him something. They both awkwardly laugh, and Clay waits for Jeff to continue.

“Oh, no, you go first,” Jeff says.

“Oh, um, I was just wondering how practice was,” Clay says.

Jeff shrugs. “Fine, I guess. I don’t know why the coaches are freaking out, it’s not like we haven’t won most of our last few games, but… Oh well.”

“You’re not the one who needed the practice, right?” Clay says, smiling at Jeff.

Jeff looks over at Clay, unsure for a moment why that sounds familiar, then he breaks into a huge smile when he realizes. “Ha ha, very funny.”

Clay shrugs. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“Well, you’re _right_ , by the way,” Jeff says. “I’m not. But I go anyway. Give the team something to strive towards.”

“Oh wow, you’re that good, huh?”

“The best.” Jeff looks over at Clay, the double-meaning clear.

Clay rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling. “Anyway, what were you going to say earlier?”

“What did you want to order for supper?” Jeff asks. “I am up for anything. Pizza is kind of obvious, but always a good choice. Are you in the mood for anything?”

“No, not really. Pizza is fine. We can do some deal like pizza and wings, if you want.”

“Sure, cool,” Jeff agrees. He reaches into his pocket and digs out his phone, handing it over to Clay. “Here, I usually end up ordering for my parents so there are a couple choices on there. Pick whichever. Code is 2529.”

Clay quickly types it in and swipes through, finding the apps and picking his favourite of the two. He clicks to the coupons section, seeing what deals they have on.

By the time they get to Jeff’s house, Clay has finished the order and hands Jeff’s phone back over to him. Jeff carries his baseball bag up to the house; Clay offers to take his backpack for him but gets shrugged off. Jeff unlocks the door and kicks off his shoes. He sets his baseball bag down in the entryway, then carries his backpack into the kitchen, setting it down at the table. “What can I get you to drink?” Jeff asks, going to the fridge. “My mom has a shit-ton of Fresca. Dad’s just more of a water or milk guy. I’ve got Coke.”

“Coke is good,” Clay says, taking the offered can from Jeff’s hands. 

“I’m just going to run upstairs and change out of my practice shit,” Jeff says, heading back towards the stairs.

“Okay, no hurry,” Clay says. He sits down at the kitchen table, hands folded on his lap, quietly waiting for Jeff to come back. It takes just a minute, Jeff loudly bounding back down the stairs, wearing dark grey sweats and a black t-shirt that says San Fransisco 2012 World Champs.

“You wanna watch in the living room or upstairs?” Jeff asks. “Down here has the better TV, but upstairs is—”

“More comfortable,” Clay suggests. “Yeah, um, upstairs is good.”

“Cool, cool,” Jeff says drumming his fingertips on the kitchen counter, looking around. “We’ll head up when the food gets here then. Anything you’re dying to watch?”

“You got anything in mind?”

“Something scary, something good,” Jeff replies.

Clay chuckles. “Oh yeah, something scary?”

“Yeah, why not? Worried you’ll get _too_ scared?”

“Ha ha, no, I’m not worried about me.”

Jeff laughs. “Okay, wow, just going right for the jugular there, Jensen, okay. Well, since you’re not worried, we’ll just pick whatever’s the scariest movie on there and we’ll see who can’t handle it.”

“Okay, deal,” Clay says, and he’s laughing again. This part feels so comfortable, so familiar to him, it’s like he’s forgotten that he was supposed to be nervous. This is just Jeff, it’s none of Clay’s fears and doubts. Maybe this night won’t be as bad as he’s imagining.

“Okay well, start googling scary movies while we wait for the food to get here. God I’m _starving_.”

Clay takes out his phone, listening to Jeff talk about practice and his classes as he searches online for movie recommendations. It feels like no time at all has passed before the doorbell rings. Jeff grabs his backpack and digs out his wallet, heading to the front door.

“Grab the drinks, will you?” Jeff calls behind him. Clay can hear Jeff happily greeting the delivery guy as he sticks his phone in his pocket and picks up their drinks. He flicks off the kitchen light as he walks by.

“I could’ve gotten that, you know,” Clay says, walking up behind Jeff, who’s holding three boxes and shutting the door behind the delivery guy with his hip. 

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, dude,” Jeff says, balancing the boxes so he can quickly lock the door. “My treat. We’re celebrating, right? What an awesome tutor you are.”

“What an awesome student you are,” Clay corrects him as they start heading up the stairs.

“Ha ha, okay Clay, whatever,” Jeff says, glancing behind him at Clay. “Agree to disagree. Either way, this is on me, no worries.”

“Thanks,” Clay says quietly, feeling bad that Jeff’s now bought him dinner. It should’ve been him paying, to celebrate Jeff getting the B. It really didn’t have that much to do with him.

Jeff pushes open his bedroom door, and Clay walks by him. He wants to tell Clay to sit on the bed, but he doesn’t want to freak him out either, because he wasn’t lying about there being no pressure, so he just closes the door behind them and waits to see where Clay goes. “Did you find a movie?”

“Uh, yeah,” Clay says, climbing onto Jeff’s bed, moving back to sit against the wall. “A couple sound good.”

“Just pick whichever, I’m down,” Jeff says. He sits the boxes down on the bed near Clay, then grabs his laptop off his desk. Clay starts opening the boxes, shuffling over to make room for Jeff and the computer. Jeff logs in and then pushes it towards Clay, who goes to Netflix and does a couple quick searches, checking the ratings before picking one and pressing play.

They’re both so absorbed in the food and the movie that it’s more than halfway over before Clay starts to get a nervous feeling in his stomach, even though literally nothing has changed; they’re just sitting next to each other on the bed, the boxes pushed to the side, the laptop playing in front of them. But it’s like, all of a sudden, Clay can’t stop thinking about the last time he was on that bed. Or on that desk. He feels warm. He starts fidgeting with his zipper, trying to keep his mind off it. But it’s _really_ fucking hard.

“You feeling okay?” Jeff asks quietly, reaching over to Clay, his fingers gently playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Uh huh,” Clay nods quickly, giving Jeff an awkward smile before looking back at the laptop.

“Okay.” Jeff shifts on the mattress, moving closer to Clay. “Scared?”

“Yeah, a bit,” Clay admits, but he isn’t talking about the movie. He isn’t sure if Jeff is either.

Jeff keeps his eyes on the screen as he moves his hand, sliding it down Clay’s back, coming to rest around Clay’s waist. He moves a bit closer again.

Clay tenses up for a moment as he feels Jeff around him, but when it’s clear that Jeff’s not making any other move, he starts to relax, settling back against him. 

“Okay?” Jeff asks.

“Yeah.”

As the movie progresses, Jeff’s starts absent-mindedly playing with the hem of Clay’s shirt. Every time there’s a loud noise or a jump scare, his fingers clench tightly around the fabric, and it seems as though he moves just a fraction of an inch closer. By the time the movie is over, he and Clay are pressed so tightly together that Clay can’t even be sure how the movie ended, his mind has been racing for so many minutes. Clay doesn’t know how to be calm around Jeff. Every move he makes, he wonders if it’s the right one. He wonders how Jeff feels.

“Do you want to watch something else?” Jeff asks quietly, his mouth so close to Clay’s ear he can’t help but shiver. “We still have a couple hours before your curfew, right?”

“Oh, uhh,” Clay doesn’t know what to say. “If you want.”

“I can just drive you home if you’re tired?” Jeff offers, but Clay quickly straightens up and says _no_ , loud enough to surprise both of them.

“No,” Clay says again, meeting Jeff’s eyes. “I want to—” He’s known what he wanted since he first walked into Jeff’s room, but he still doesn’t know if he can say it. He clenches his eyes shut, his hand tapping nervously against his leg. “Will you kiss me?” Clay can practically feel Jeff smile against him, and he lets out a loud rush of air before he feels Jeff carefully take his face in his hands and press their lips together.

“Finally,” Jeff says, pulling back after a moment, quickly kissing him again.

Clay’s hands go to Jeff’s hips, and Jeff climbs easily onto Clay’s lap, pressing him back. They sink into the bed together, all tension gone from their bodies, like they’ve both been waiting for this moment all night, which clearly they had.

“I like it when you tell me what you want,” Jeff says quietly. “Promise. You don’t have to be so shy, okay?”

Clay promises, but he’s more than pretty sure that it’s a lie. But it’s easy to say, if it means Jeff will keep kissing him. 

“Good.” Jeff’s lips are on his again. They keep kissing for minutes on end, steadily growing more frantic, Jeff’s hips pressing down against Clay’s the entire time, grinding against him, both them growing hard, moaning softly.

“Tell me what you want now,” Jeff says before sitting up and reaching down to tug off his t-shirt. Clay can only look up at Jeff, practically staring at his bare chest, fingers digging into Jeff’s hips. Clay is breathing heavily, mouth suddenly dry, and then he thinks of the promise he’s just made. _Don’t be so fucking shy._ This is Jeff, after all. He moves his hands to the front of Jeff’s pants. He keeps looking up at Jeff’s eyes, making sure it’s okay, and then he pushes the waistband of his sweats and his briefs down as much as he can with Jeff’s hips spread on top of him. He pulls Jeff’s dick out of the fabric, slowly starting to stroke him. He can hardly believe that he’s ended up here _again_ , Jeff’s dick in his hand.

Jeff lets out a laugh of disbelief, clearly it’s surprising to him too, then a series of soft moans, hips grinding against Clay’s, working into Clay’s fist. “Yeah?” he asks, fingertips grasping at the bedsheets. “This is what you want?”

“Yeah,” Clay admits breathlessly, moving his fist faster. “Yeah, Jeff.” It feels good, freeing, to finally tell be open. He feels like he’s floating, and like he’s on fire at the same time.

Jeff falls forward to desperately kiss Clay with a low, broken groan. His hands are tight on Clay’s waist, anchoring them together as Jeff keeps grinding his hips. They only break apart when Jeff gasps loudly, his forehead pressed to Clay’s shoulder, coming between them.

Clay stares up at the ceiling, blinking wildly. He wraps his arms around Jeff, feeling him tremble on his chest, trying to keep him still while calming his own breathing.

Jeff lifts his head, and gives Clay another kiss, smiling. “You’re amazing,” he tells him, and after taking a second to tuck himself back into his briefs and tug up his sweats, he reaches between them to undo Clay’s jeans, but he’s stopped by Clay’s hand on his wrist. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“I think I already…did. When you were, you know, on top of me.” He really doesn’t want to look at Jeff right now.

“Yeah?” Jeff asks, and he lets go of Clay’s jeans. The idea of it is pretty hot, he’s gotta admit.

“Yeah,” Clay says, nodding. “It just, it felt _really_ good, and you, you look really hot, and I just kept thinking about last time and I just… Ugh, I’m sorry.” Clay closes his eyes, feeling himself turn red under Jeff. “I’m sorry.”

Jeff shrugs. “For what?”

Clay’s eyes open and then practically roll out of his head. “Oh, come on. For being a boring virgin who comes in three seconds every time you touch me?”

“You’re anything but boring, Clay,” Jeff assures him. He cups the side of Clay’s face, brushing his thumb against his swollen bottom lip. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay? Christ Clay, you think I don’t get nervous? That being around you doesn’t make me feel like I’m an idiot?”

“Well, you hide it pretty well,” Clay mutters. God, he can feel his underwear sticking to him. He really wants to reach down and try to adjust himself, but the middle of this conversation might not be the right time.

Jeff sighs, lifting himself off Clay, then lying down next to him, curling against his side. “Yeah, because I want you to think I’m cool. I really like you, Clay.”

Clay shifts to look at Jeff. “I really like you too.”

Jeff smiles. “Good.” He feels tired and closes his eyes, snuggling into Clay, even though he knows in the back of his mind that they should be cleaning up.

They rest together on Jeff’s bed for minutes on, until their breathing slows, their hearts stop racing, and they’ve almost dozed off. Clay has no idea how long it’s been, but he finally has to speak up. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel really gross, can I take a shower?”

Jeff laughs and pushes himself up. “Yeah, I guess that can be arranged.” 

“With you?” Clay asks before he can stop himself, and he swallows hard when Jeff looks back at him. 

“Yeah, sure,” Jeff agrees quietly, and he offers his hand to Clay, helping him off the bed, leading him across the hall to the bathroom. Jeff, already shirtless, leans into the shower to turn on the tap, then pushes his sweatpants down, stepping out of them. He tries to just focus on the water, pretending that he’s alone in the room so that Clay doesn’t feel uncomfortable. When the water’s hot enough, he takes off his underwear, kicking them to the side. He glances behind him with a hard swallow, watching Clay watch him, then climbs into the shower.

Clay takes a deep, shaky breath, then finally just pulls off his shirt. That part is easy, relatively; he’d taken off his shirt last time. His toes tap nervously on the bathroom floor, before he gives himself to the count of three and finally just undoes his pants, pushing them down along with his boxers, stepping out of them. He walks to the shower and pushes the curtain aside to climb in behind Jeff.

“Here,” Jeff say, turning around and taking Clay by the shoulders, guiding him under the water.

Clay lets the water spray over him, closing his eyes. He’s in the shower with Jeff. He’s totally naked with Jeff. Promise fulfilled. He leans forward against the wall, hands bracing himself as he ducks his head, the water running down his back. He jumps a bit when he feels Jeff’s hands on his waist, Jeff apologizing quietly in his ear. He can feel Jeff reach over to grab something, realizing it’s body wash when Jeff starts slowly working it over Clay’s back. His hands feel fucking amazing, and even though Clay just came a short while ago in Jeff’s room, he can feel his dick start to throb again, growing harder. Jeff’s lips brush against the back of Clay’s neck, and Clay shivers, his fingers desperately curling into the shower wall, but there’s nothing to grab onto.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” Jeff murmurs, and Clay can’t help but laugh. _Stop_? Why would he want him to stop right now? “Is this okay?”

Clay nods frantically, voice breaking as he tries to answer. “Yeah, yeah, it’s okay.”

Jeff’s arms wind their way around Clay’s waist, one hand holding onto Clay’s chest, keeping him close, his other hand wrapping around Clay’s dick, starting to slowly jerk him off.

Clay cries out loudly, head going back to rest on Jeff’s shoulder. He starts to thrust into Jeff’s grip. This is the first time Jeff has _actually_ touched him, no layers of clothing between them. It’s just them now. “Oh god,” he mutters, eyes screwing shut. His head jerks to the side and he moans desperately when Jeff’s lips press against his, tongue gently slipping out to lick some of the water off Clay’s lips before slipping into Clay’s open mouth. Clay reaches up, grasping onto the arm Jeff has around his chest, using him for balance. 

“Still okay?” Jeff asks, barely audible over the sounds of the shower, and Clay nods again.

“Yes, yes,” he chants, crying out loudly when Jeff increases the speed of his fist. Clay presses back against Jeff, and he says “holy shit” when he feels Jeff hard against his lower back, briefly slipping between his cheeks as Jeff shifts behind him. “Oh god, Jeff.”

Jeff apologizes and tries to tilt his hips away from Clay, but Clay just tightens his grip on Jeff’s arm, holding him close. 

“No, no, it’s okay,” Clay says, and he turns his head to kiss Jeff’s neck. “I like it.”

“You’re full of surprises, Clay,” Jeff says, and he leans in so they can keep kissing as he strokes Clay under the spray of water. “Are you close?”

Clay nods, chasing after Jeff’s lips again. He turns in Jeff’s arms so they’re facing each other. Jeff takes him in hand again, pressing him up against the shower wall. Clay pants heavily in Jeff’s ear, his fingers gripping at his arms. Jeff lets go of Clay to grasp his hips, thrusting against him. The slide of Jeff against him has Clay crying out loudly, clutching at him as he comes for the second time that night.

Jeff slows down his thrusts against Clay, and he brings one hand up to grip at the back of Clay’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss. 

“Don’t stop,” Clay breathes, “it’s okay.”

“You sure?” Jeff asks, and Clay nods quickly, trying to calm his breathing, but still enjoying the feeling of Jeff against him, wanting him to come again as well. He moves his hand between them, taking Jeff in his grasp, letting him thrust into his fist. Jeff comes with a litany of curse words and moans in Clay’s ear. He braces himself against the wall, bracketing his arms around Clay, breathing heavily.

Clay presses his mouth to Jeff’s chest, kissing him gently as his hands move up and down his back, feeling him calm against him. They stand like that for moments on end, until Jeff lifts his head and pulls back.

“We’ll probably freeze to death if we don’t get out of here soon.”

Clay smiles. “Then we should probably _actually_ try cleaning up.”

Jeff chuckles, and then reaches over to grab a facecloth.

They finish showering, and after Jeff makes sure Clay is comfortable and has way too many towels, he tosses his boxers into the washing machine, not wanting to send Clay home without clean boxers again. They rest casually in Jeff’s room, eating more food and watching more Netflix until the dryer buzzes loudly.

They head down to the laundry room together, and Clay gets dressed in front of him, grinning like an idiot the entire time because the whole situation feels so surreal to him. “What?” Jeff asks, but Clay just shakes his head. He can’t really explain it to Jeff, he doesn’t really know how to explain it to himself. He just feels different now. Sort of…domestic. 

“If we don’t want your mom to kill me we should head out now,” Jeff says, walking into the kitchen to grab his car keys, patting his pocket for his wallet.

“Yeah, definitely,” Clay says, zipping up his hoodie, following Jeff out to the car. They drive back to Clay’s home without speaking, just softly singing along to the music Jeff has playing on his iPod. 

He pulls up in front of Clay’s house, swallows hard, and then leans over, giving him a kiss goodbye. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.” Clay’s hand is on the door handle, and he’s just about to leave, but something stops him. “You remember how you told me to tell you what I want?” he asks.

“Yeah, of course,” Jeff says.

“I want _us_ …” Clay shifts awkwardly in his seat, “I want us to do more than this.”

Jeff looks at Clay in confusion. There are a couple different ways he can take that sentence, and he isn’t sure exactly what Clay means, so he lets him keep talking to figure it out. 

“Look, I’m not ready to tell everyone at school that we’re together or anything,” Clay continues. “I fucking hate most of the people there and it’s none of their business, but, could we try… hanging out? Outside the tutoring, and your bedroom. And go see a movie? Or grab something to eat?” He bites down on the inside of his bottom lip. “That’s what I want.” It _is_ what he wants, but he just can’t believe that he said it.

Jeff is equally surprised. He hadn’t been expecting Clay to say that, but now that it’s out in the open, it makes perfect sense. It feels like it fits. “Yeah?” Clay just nods. “Yeah, I want that too,” Jeff says, and he leans over the seat to kiss Clay. “I like the sounds of that.”

Clay smiles. He instantly feels brighter, like a weight has been taken off his shoulders. He doesn’t really know what to say, so he just says “okay, cool,” and then kisses Jeff again. “I gotta go. I’ll see you around tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jeff nods, and he watches Clay climb out of the car, giving him a wave through the window.

Clay practically bounces up the front step to the door, grinning until his cheeks hurt. He walks inside the house, assuming his parents are in bed, jumping a bit when he sees his father out of the corner of his eye. “Oh, hey, Dad. Made it home before curfew. Were you waiting up?”

“Nope,” Matt says, looking up from his book, “just doing a bit of reading for work. You two have a good time?”

Clay nods, starting towards the stairs. “Yeah, it was cool. Pizza and a scary movie.”

“Sounds fun,” Matt says. “He’s nice?”

Clay stops on the stairs, looking behind him. He slowly backs down. “Uh, yeah? Really nice, actually. Which is surprising, considering how popular he is. Most of the other jocks are assholes.”

“Good, good,” Matt nods, flipping the page in his book. 

“Dad, is there something on your mind?” Clay asks, an uneasy feeling settling over him.

Matt sighs, closing his book. “No, not really. Just that you know you can talk to us about anything, right? I’d like to think that your mother and I have always made that clear, and—”

“You saw us kissing in the car,” Clay interrupts.

“I saw you kissing in the car.”

Clay nods, looking around, tapping his feet. “Okay, so… just so you know, I’m not _really_ hiding anything from you because nothing really happened between us until tonight. I asked him out. In the car.” Okay, so that obviously isn’t _totally_ true, but Clay figures his dad doesn’t need a story about ‘hey yeah I actually jerked him off a couple weeks ago and now I think we might go on a date’.

“I’m not judging you or anything like that, Clay, I certainly remember what it was like to be your age and like people. I’m just trying to tell you that… Well, I am surprised, I’m not going to lie, but at the same time, I’m no less happy for you than I would be if Jeff was a girl. Okay?”

“Okay Dad, got it, you’re not homophobic, I’m not getting kicked out for kissing a guy.” Clay can tell that his dad is really trying, but the entire situation feels so awkward to him, he’s just trying to cut it as short as possible, even if it means he’s being kind of a dick.

“Okay Clay, I get it, this is the 21st century, I’m the one who’s being super lame for bringing it up,” Matt says. “Of _course_ every parent who sees their son kissing another boy would be totally fine with it, right? I’m the loser for trying to let you know that it’s okay, just in case you were worried it’s not.”

Clay rolls his eyes. “Okay, I get your point. A lot of parents wouldn’t be cool with it. I know that, I’m sorry. Are you going to tell Mom?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t? Do you think she won’t be cool with it?”

“Ugh, no, she’s going to make a huge deal about it. Not because he’s a guy but just because she’s her. She’ll want to meet him and have him over for dinner and talk to him about his future and his interests and Dad, it’s going to be totally awful.”

“Yeah, god, inviting our son’s friend over for dinner and trying to make polite conversation, what a monster.”

“Is that a yes, you’re going to tell her?”

“It’s a, how about you invite Jeff over for dinner sometime and we’ll let Mom meet him _before_ she finds out you two are dating?”

“And if I don’t, you’re going to tell her.”

Matt smiles. “So, do you think he would like to come for dinner?”

“Ugh, Dad, I don’t know,” Clay practically whines, wishing this conversation was over with. “I can ask him. In a few days. Maybe. Okay?”

Matt smiles as he walks by Clay, heading to the staircase. He brings Clay in for a hug that Clay doesn’t reciprocate, squeezing him tightly before starting upstairs. “Alright, alright. Just let me know what he likes.” Matt stops, then looks back at Clay with a smile. “What he likes for dinner, I mean.”

“Ew, Dad, come on, gross!” 

“Good night, Clay,” Matt says, walking up the stairs.

“Night, Dad.” Clay takes out his phone and sits down on the bottoms steps, considering texting Jeff. His thumb hovers over the keyboard for a few seconds, but he can’t think of what to say. He just sighs heavily and clicks his phone off, going upstairs to his room.

\+ + + + +

Clay bounds down the stairs, his backpack banging against his back, rushing to the front door.

“Breakfast!” Lainie calls after Clay.

“I’m not really hungry,” Clay says, but in reality, he’s just trying to avoid what he assumes will be another awkward conversation with his father, and he has no idea if Matt ended up telling Lainie or not. He just can’t deal with it first thing in the morning. He still needs time to deal with the fact that he and Jeff are maybe dating now; he can’t worry about his parents too. “I’ll see you guys tonight.”

Clay throws open the door, stopping in surprise. Jeff’s car is parked in front of the house. Jeff looks up and notices that he’s there, smiling brightly and giving him a wave. Clay slowly waves back, then looks back into the house, where Matt is watching him.

“Have a good day, Clay,” Matt says with a knowing smile.

“Uh, yeah, you too.” Clay pulls the door closed behind him, walking down the front stairs.

Matt shifts in his seat, looking out the window as Clay approaches the car.

“Who’s that?” Lainie asks, pushing the curtain out of the way.

“Uh, Jeff, I think,” Matt says. 

“Hmm, I wonder what he wants,” Lainie says, before settling back in her seat.

“What’s up?” Clay asks, climbing into the car.

“Good morning,” Jeff says. “Is this okay? I know I didn’t ask if you needed a ride, but I know you bike everyday and I figured— well, I honestly just kind of wanted to see you again after last night. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Clay replies, though his stomach feels a little uneasy. His dad clearly saw Jeff pick him up, and now the entire school’s going to notice Clay get out of his car in just a few minutes. He swallows hard. If everybody is going to figure it out soon enough anyway, he may as well just go for it. “Uh, yeah, actually, it’s great. I wanted to see you too. I was going to text you. My dad was wondering if you wanted to come over for supper sometime. Meet him and my mom.”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds cool.”

“Okay, cool,” Clay says quietly. “He uh, he knows.” Jeff looks away from the road to glance at Clay. “He saw us kiss last night.”

“Is that okay?”

Clay shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess. He’s okay with it, which is cool, but it also…” He sighs heavily. “I just wasn’t going to tell him yet. He wants you to come over for dinner so my mom can get to know you before I tell her we’re—” Whatever they are. “So, still wanna come?”

Jeff reaches over, at first intending to give Clay’s leg a reassuring squeeze, but he finds Clay’s hand instead. “Just let me know when.”

“Yeah?” Clay asks, revelling in the weight of Jeff’s hand in his. It feels nice, he thinks. He never thought that he’d be one for PDA, he honestly finds it annoying, but if Jeff wanted to hold his hand sometime, he thinks he’d be okay with it. “They’re kind of lame.”

Jeff shrugs. “Yeah, so are my parents. I think it’s the rule, once you have a kid, you lose major cool points.”

“It doesn’t bother you that my dad already knows?” Clay asks.

Jeff shakes his head. “Saves us some time, right? I mean, if I’m going to picking you up all the time for school and dinner and baseball games—”

“I don’t think I agreed to watch you play baseball.”

“Then he’d probably figure it out eventually, right?” Jeff flashes Clay a smile. “And you’re definitely coming to my baseball games.”

“What makes you so sure?”

Jeff shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve been told I look really good in my uniform.”

Clay swallows hard, and can just imagine it; how could Jeff look bad in anything. “Oh yeah, who told you that? Montgomery?”

Jeff laughs loudly and squeezes Clay’s hand before he has to let it go, putting it back on the wheel. “Yeah, Monty. Geez, Clay, you're full of it.”

Clay smiles back at Jeff, settling into his seat. He hasn’t been awake for that long, but this day has already been a thousand percent better than he was imagining.


	2. Chapter 2

Clay’s math textbook is open on his lap, but he hasn’t read a single page since he sat down on the bleachers outside Liberty High. He’s _trying_ to look like he’s studying, because it’s late Friday afternoon and he knows he’ll get nothing done tonight, but also because he half-thinks he saw Tyler lurking around the field earlier with his camera, and the last thing Clay needs is Tyler with a photo of Clay staring at Jeff play baseball. Which is a problem, because for the most part, that’s exactly what Clay is doing. Every time Clay tries to focus on his textbook, the words swim in front of his eyes and he finds himself looking up again, eyes automatically going to wherever Jeff is on the field. At this exact moment, Jeff’s on-deck, warming up with a baseball doughnut, taking multiple practice swings. 

Clay has to look away again. He’s come to realize that while Jeff warms up, he’s constantly grabbing the hem of his shirt, pulling it up to wipe the sweat off his face. Clay can’t tell if it’s something he does without thinking, or if he’s just trying to show off (or impress Clay), but whatever the reason is, it has Clay shifting on the uncomfortable metal bleachers, trying to think of anything other than Jeff’s body, trying to do anything other than get hard in his jeans.

So far, he’s failing miserably.

There’s a loud crack, and Clay looks up to watch, along with almost everyone else, how far the ball Montgomery’s hit will go. Somebody in the infield catches it with ease. The younger hitting coach walks up to Montgomery at the plate, and takes the bat from him. Clay can’t hear what they’re saying, but Montgomery is watching intently as the coach swings a couple times, then shows Montgomery his grip. They both look out at the field at the same time, and Montgomery nods, taking the bat back.

“Atkins!” 

“Yes, Coach!” Jeff walks past Montgomery, exchanging bats, then steps up to the plate. The coach gestures to Jeff’s legs, and Jeff takes his stance. The coach uses his foot to nudge Jeff’s, and Jeff closes his legs a bit. He gets a thumbs up, and then the coach steps back to watch. Jeff watches the pitcher, who’s chatting over his shoulder to the pitching coach, then briefly looks over to the bleachers, and winks.

Clay’s face gets hot and he quickly looks down. A moment later, he looks back up, wondering if anybody noticed. It doesn’t seem like anyone did, but Jeff looks amused, grinning and shaking his head.

It’s easy for Clay’s mind to wander as he watches Jeff at bat. It’s not as interesting or high-speed as a game, with the coaches stopping to talk to the players every few moments. Clay’s used to seeing Jeff struggle in the library and not always care about what they’re working on, but he absolutely shines on the baseball field. He’s all confidence and power, totally engaged with what the coach is saying. Clay has never paid a lot of attention to Liberty High’s athletics, but it’s clear to him that Jeff is the best player on the team.

Clay smiles, and he thinks he’s blushing. Jeff Atkins… He still can’t fucking believe that Jeff Atkins likes him. Likes _him_. Clay’s not going to argue with it, but he’s sure as hell confused by it. But he really fucking wishes he could argue with the dinner he’s about to drag Jeff to once practice is over. But Jeff’s too nice to say no, and Clay’s father is too insistent. Lainie doesn’t think anything is happening other than Clay having the nice boy he tutors over to work on history.

Fuck, he cannot focus. He pushes his textbook off his lap and just gives up. He sits there for the rest of practice, foot tapping insistently, until the coaches call it and the boys start to walk off the field. Clay quickly starts to push himself up, but realizes he doesn’t want to look too obvious in front of the other jocks, so he just gives Jeff a wave.

“What the fuck is Jensen doing here?” Bryce asks, looking over at the bleachers.

“He’s my tutor,” Jeff replies, “otherwise I can’t stay on this team and save your ass.” He looks at Clay and gives him a quick smile. Jeff leans down to untie his baseball shoes, grabbing his sneakers out of his bag, slipping them on. Jeff grabs his bag, and walks over to the bleachers, leaning against his rail. “I’ve got a change of clothes in the car, so I’m good to go if you are.”

“Yeah, you can just shower at my place,” Clay offers, but he regrets it almost immediately. Bryce coughs loudly as he walks past the two of them, but the ugly word he says under the cough is clear to everyone in the vicinity. Clay’s stomach instantly feels sick, his mouth turning sour. Jeff turns, watching Bryce walk by, biting the inside of his lip. 

“Guess all the rumours are true, huh Jensen?” Bryce says, glancing back over his shoulder with a wide smile.

“Guess your parents didn’t teach you when to shut your mouth, huh Walker,” Jeff says before he can even think to not.

Bryce laughs loudly and just keeps walking towards the parking lot.

“It’s okay,” Clay says quietly, looking away from Bryce and the rest of the team. He can see that Jeff’s grip on his bag has tightened, his knuckles now white, but realizes that besides that, Jeff still looks as calm and casual as he did moments ago. “Just let it go.”

“Are you sure?” Jeff asks, turning towards him.

“He’s not worth it,” Clay says, even though it feels like his eyes are stinging. He _can’t_ let himself get caught crying over Bryce. He’ll forget the comment in a couple of days, but if Clay starts crying now, the torture will go on for weeks. He swallows heavily around the growing lump in his throat, and looks back up. “Fuck him.” He can only meet Jeff’s eyes for a brief second, but he still tries to give him a shaky smile.

Jeff reaches out to squeeze Clay’s shoulder, wanting desperately to pull him into a hug, but he knows he can’t. He leaves his hand on Clay’s shoulder until he looks up again. “You sure?” he repeats.

Clay shrugs it off, nodding quickly. “Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s go, okay?”

Jeff drops his hand and waits for Clay to step off the bleachers, walking slowly alongside him to the parking lot. “Bryce is an asshole.”

“I know,” Clay says.

“The worst.”

“I _know_.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Jeff opens the back door, tosses his bag in the backseat, and slams the door loudly. “Because I can’t— I can’t tell him to fuck off. I can’t punch him.”

“I don’t need you to do that,” Clay says, climbing into the passenger seat. “I said, just let it go. I’ve been dealing with assholes like Bryce forever.” Clay’s trying to like he doesn’t care, but in reality, he cares way too much. He feels like he wants to punch the dashboard. His fingers clench on his lap, and he leans heavily against the door. He _really_ does not want to do this fucking dinner.

\+ + + + +

“Ugh,” Clay says, leaning forward until his head is on the dashboard. “There’s still time to back out of this.”

“We’re in your driveway,” Jeff points out. “I think they can see us.”

“I just can’t believe I agreed to this stupid dinner,” Clay says, hand on the handle. “My parents are so embarrassing. They’re going to embarrass me, you know.”

“Not possible,” Jeff says with a shrug. “Nothing could make you look stupid in front of me.”

Clay snorts and rolls his eyes, finally climbing out of the car. Jeff moves behind him, grabbing his bag out of the back, following Clay up to the door. Clay stops and takes one final look at Jeff, and heaves a heavy sigh before opening the door.

Matt is there immediately, giving Jeff a wide, friendly smile. “Hi there Jeff, I’m Matt, Clay’s dad.”

“Hi Mr. Jensen,” Jeff says, offering his hand out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to finally meet you too,” Matt says, taking his hand. “Thanks for coming to dinner.”

“Thanks for the invitation,” Jeff replies.

“Okay Dad, Jeff just finished practice and I told him he could shower here before dinner, okay?” Clay says, pushing by his father.

“Oh of course,” Matt says. “Clay, grab him a towel and then come back downstairs to help me finish up.”

Clay rolls his eyes, but mutters “yeah, Dad,” and starts towards the staircase.

“Jeff, I hope you brought your appetite because there’ll be plenty to eat!” Matt calls after them.

“I sure did!” Jeff replies from the stairs.

“Don’t encourage him,” Clay mutters, pushing open the door to his bedroom.

“He’s just trying to be nice,” Jeff says, dropping his bag onto the floor. He smiles and leans into Clay, giving him a kiss. “Mm, finally.”

Clay smiles back and pushes the door closed behind them, pulling Jeff in. “You’ve just been waiting to get me alone all day?”

Jeff nods and kisses him again, holding Clay’s hips to keep him close. “Every time I looked up into the stands.”

“Same,” Clay says. “I had no idea how hot you would look playing baseball.”

Jeff laughs loudly and then pulls away. “Okay, okay, I gotta have a shower before we forget your dad is downstairs and take this too far.”

“Ugh, fuck off,” Clay says, but there’s no heat behind him. He moves out of the way and opens the door, heading across the hall to the bathroom. There’s a small cabinet and he opens it, grabbing a towel and a facecloth. “You can use whatever you want in the shower, I promise none of us care.”

“Thanks Clay,” Jeff says, and he’s smiling as he gives him another kiss. “I won’t be long.”

“Well, don’t hurry,” Clay says, hand on the doorknob. “Stay in here all night, if you have to.”

“What, you don’t want me to meet your mom?”

“Ugh,” Clay says, and he pulls the door shut loudly behind him. He takes a deep breath and then heads back downstairs. “Okay Dad, what do I need to do?”

“Your mom texted, she’s on the way home, so just make a quick salad, will you?” Matt says, checking the oven.

“Sure,” Clay says, going to the fridge.

“Jeff seems nice,” Matt says, and Clay rolls his eyes. 

“He said the same thing about you.”

“Well then, he’s got great taste in men, I’ll give him that.”

Clay slowly turns to look at his dad, a look of disbelief on his face. “Dad, _really_?”

“What, I can’t make jokes now? That eliminates half of my dinnertime conversation.”

“Good.”

“Oh, calm down, what do you expect me to say to him? Have I ever ruined your life in front of any of your other friends?”

“No, but how many of my other friends have I ever dated?” Clay grabs a chopping board and starts on the lettuce.

“So, just how official _is_ this?” Matt asks, leaning forward on the counter. “Should I be expecting the topic of a dowry to come up?”

“No.”

“Children?”

“ _Dad_.”

“Okay, okay, you’re such a buzzkill sometimes. Well, what _can_ we talk about?”

Clay shrugs. “I don’t know. Baseball.”

“Is that the only thing he knows anything about?”

“Movies.”

“So _Field of Dreams_ is the perfect conversation starter then.”

Clay starts tossing the lettuce into a large bowl, glaring at his father. “Dad, do you want me to go upstairs and tell Jeff the whole dinner is off?”

Matt turns and looks back to the oven, checking the timer. “Wow, you’re really sensitive about this. Okay, okay. No joking. No _Field of Dreams_. We’ll listen to your mother talk about people at work and enjoy our food in silence.”

“Perfect.” Clay turns around and starts gathering the rest of the ingredients for his Caesar salad.

“Clay.”

“What, Dad?”

“Just try to stay cool, okay? Let’s not make a big deal out of this. It’s just dinner, right?”

Clay stares at his father for a moment, then nods. “Right. Okay.”

They both turn at the sound of the front door opening, Lainie coming in, briefcase in hand, still texting on her phone.

“Hi honey,” Matt says, walking to the door to give Lainie a kiss.

“Hi,” Lainie replies. “Hi Clay. Oh, thank you for making the salad.”

“Hey, what about me?” Matt asks, gesturing towards the oven. “Stuffed pasta? Chicken alfredo ring? I’ve been slaving away.”

Lainie gives Matt a smile, and then another kiss. “Thank you, sweetie, I appreciate it.” She toes off her high heels and walks across the kitchen to ruffle Clay’s hair and kiss his forehead.

“Mom!” Clay protests.

“What?”

“Lainie,” Matt says, “Clay’s friend is upstairs.”

“Oh! Yes, I’m sorry Clay, I forgot.”

“We came straight from baseball practice, so he’s having a shower,” Clay says quietly, dumping practically an entire bag of croutons onto the salad. 

“Well that’s nice,” Lainie says.

Clay looks at Matt, who just smiles and shrugs. He looks up when he hears the bathroom door open upstairs. “Salad’s done, be right back.” He hurries up the stairs, catching Jeff just as he walks into Clay’s room.

“What’s up?” Jeff asks, glancing back as he goes to his bag, taking out his clean clothes.

“I need a break already,” Clay says, throwing himself on the bed.

Jeff laughs then leans down, giving him a quick kiss. “I’m sure it’s not that bad. Whatever’s in the oven smells delicious.”

“Stuffed pasta.”

“Yum, carbo loading.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of my dad’s thing.” Clay turns his head, watching Jeff drop the towel and step into his underwear. He bites his lip, then tries to smile innocently when Jeff looks back at him. “What?”

“My eyes are up here,” Jeff says. He grabs his pants, tugging them on.

“Whatever,” Clay mutters, but he looks away.

“Boys, dinner’s ready!” Matt calls from downstairs, and Clay sighs. He pushes himself up, and looks at Jeff, taking in his outfit, and smiles.

“You good?”

Jeff nods and reaches out, giving Clay’s hand a squeeze. “No big deal, right?”

“Have you ever met someone’s parents before?” Clay asks.

“Yeah, a couple times,” Jeff replies. “Parents love me.”

“Yeah, no surprise there.”

Clay lets go of Jeff’s hand at the top of the stairs, and is thankful that at least Jeff is the nicest guy he could possibly bring home.

“Boys, what’ll you be drinking tonight?” Matt asks from the fridge.

“Uh, just water for me, Mr. Jensen,” Jeff says, giving him a polite smile.

“Matt is fine,” Matt says, bringing the water pitcher to the table.

“Uh, Mrs. Jensen?” Jeff says, walking over to Lainie, extending his hand. “Jeff Atkins.”

“Oh, hello Jeff,” Lainie says, shaking his hand politely. “It’s a pleasure. You can call me Lainie.”

“Okay, thanks,” Jeff says, smiling, glancing back at Clay, who’s carrying the salad to the table. “Thank you so much for having me over for dinner, everything looks delicious.”

“Well, thank the boys,” Lainie says, pulling her chair into the table. “It was all them. I was at work all day.”

“Right, Clay told me you’re a lawyer, right?” Jeff says, waiting until Clay takes the seat next to him before he takes his own. “What’s that like?”

“It can be hard,” Lainie says, “long hours when there’s a big case, but very rewarding.”

“I can imagine,” Jeff says, and he takes in all the food on the table. “Should I try the salad first?” he asks quietly, leaning in to Clay.

“Don’t fill up on salad!” Matt says. “No offence, Clay, but I mean…” He spreads his arms, gesturing at the food he prepared.

“Clay told us you play baseball, Jeff,” Lainie says.

“Uh, yes,” Jeff says, opening his napkin on his lap. “Clay’s tutoring me so that I can stay on the team, actually. I let my grades slip a bit too much, but my average is where it needs to be now.”

“And you’re going to play baseball professionally?” Lainie asks.

“Uh, no, I can’t imagine,” Jeff says. “I mean, that’d be great, but you can’t really count on making it big. I would like to go to school on a baseball scholarship, though. Take the time there to figure out what I’m going to do.”

“And you’re a sophomore as well?”

“No, junior, actually,” Jeff replies.

Clay looks over at Jeff, but he’s just smiling brightly, as usual, taking a large piece of the chicken alfredo ring. “Jeff’s great.”

“Oh?” Lainie says, taking a bite of salad.

“Yeah, I was at practice with him today,” Clay explains, “and he’s definitely the best player on the team. I think he _is_ the team.”

“Ha, thanks, but I wouldn’t go _that_ far,” Jeff says. “I mean, you can’t play unless there are nine people on the field.”

Matt laughs quietly.

“But really, I couldn’t have done it without Clay this year,” Jeff continues. “He’s really…really, great.”

Clay can feel himself start to blush and he stares down at his plate, poking at his food.

Lainie looks across the table at Matt, who’s smiling and shrugging, then looks at Clay and Jeff. “Well, good. That’s good. I’m happy that he could help.”

The table is quiet for a minute, except for the sound of chewing and cutlery scraping against the plate.

“So, Jeff,” Matt says, finally speaking up. “Have you seen _Field of Dreams_?”

Clay groans, dropping his fork.

“I love that movie,” Jeff says, nodding eagerly at Matt. “One of my favourites.”

“Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it?” Matt agrees. “Big fan. Clay, if you haven’t seen it, you should, it’s fantastic.”

“Yeah, I own it,” Jeff says, turning in his chair to face Clay. “We can watch it whenever.”

“Sure, okay,” Clay replies, nodding. He looks over and meets his father’s eyes, and Matt smiles encouragingly. “Uh, Mom?”

“Yes?” Lainie asks, cutting her own piece of the chicken alfredo bread.

“Um,” Clay’s foot is nervously tapping on the floor and he reaches over to grasp Jeff’s hand. “Um, Jeff isn’t just my— I’m not just Jeff’s tutor. I’m— we’re— we’re dating.” He lets out a heavy breath, and honestly feels a bit better, even though he’s still nervous as hell.

“Oh?” Lainie says, her hand freezing on the way to her mouth. She looks to Matt, who hasn’t said anything, but is just watching her back.

“Yeah,” Clay says. “I—I don’t really know what else to say.”

“Well,” Lainie begins, then pauses to take a drink of water.

“I think it’s great,” Matt says in the silence, looking towards Jeff and Clay now. “I mean, I don’t really know what else to say either, honestly, since you’re the first person Clay’s brought home, but you— you certainly seem great, Jeff.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jeff says politely, squeezing Clay’s hand.

“Yes,” Lainie agrees. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to just, blank out there. I was just surprised. I didn’t know Clay was dating…anyone. But yes. Clay, there’s nothing really else to say. I think it’s nice that you brought Jeff over to meet us.”

“Really?” Clay asks, looking at his mother.

“Well, sure,” Lainie says. “I mean, I’m sure you understand that there might be more rules now that he’s not just your friend—”

“Honey,” Matt says quietly.

“But we don’t have to talk about that now, of course,” Lainie finishes quickly. “No, I think it’s great. It makes me happy to know that you have someone.”

Clay smiles a bit and looks down at their linked hands on his lap. “Okay. So that was less awkward than I thought it would be.” He looks up at Jeff, who’s watching him. “That was fine.”

“Have your parents met Clay?” Lainie asks.

“Not yet, no,” Jeff says. “But soon, of course. I kinda wanna show him off.”

Clay snorts and rolls his eyes, pulling his hand away from Jeff’s. “Ha ha, okay, okay. Can we get back to dinner now? Talk about how amazing _Major League_ or whatever is with my dad.”

“Crazy how far Charlie Sheen has come, isn’t it?” Matt says seriously, taking a glass of water.

“Uh, Clay told me you’re a professor?” Jeff says. “Is that fun? Sometimes I think it’d be cool to be a teacher.”

“Oh, it’s not too bad,” Matt says. “Shaping young minds and all that. It can be a lot of work, but it can be a lot of fun sometimes too. Gives me an excuse to own a lot of sweaters. I like patches on my elbows. Plus the beard is a big bonus. You gotta have a beard if you wanna be taken seriously as a prof.”

“You know, I can see that,” Jeff says, leaning forward. 

“Okay, okay, stop encouraging him,” Clay says, his hand on Jeff’s shoulder. “He gets it, you think he’s cool.” 

Jeff glances back at him and smiles. “What, he is.”

“Wow, cool?” Matt says. “From you, Jeff, a compliment.” He raises his glass. “I assume you’re the coolest kid in school? I can’t have my son dating anyone less.”

“Ugh, Dad,” Clay groans, and he looks to his mom for support. 

Lainie takes a sip of her wine and smiles, leaning forward to grasp onto Clay’s hand. “I like him,” she says softly, while Jeff and Matt continue talking.

“Yeah?” Clay asks, glancing back at him.

Lainie keeps smiling and nods. “I do,” she assures him.

“I like him too,” Clay says quietly, and Lainie gives his hand a squeeze before leaning back. He knows his parents are probably going to embarrass him at some point very soon, but until then, he can’t believe he was as nervous to introduce Jeff to them as he was.

\+ + + + +

“It was a pleasure, Jeff,” Matt says, shaking his hand at the door.

“Thank you,” Jeff says, and he smiles at Lainie. “Thanks again for having me.”

“Come around again anytime, we’d love to have you,” Lainie assures him.

“I’m just going to walk Jeff out,” Clay says, holding the door open for Jeff. The air has a bit of a chill when they step outside, walking down the front steps to the driveway.

“Now, that wasn’t that bad, was it?” Jeff asks, looking over at Clay.

“Uh, no, actually,” Clay says, scratching the back of his head. “I can’t really believe it, but…no, it was good. _You_ were good. You were right: parents do love you.”

Jeff smiles and shrugs, reaching out to pull him into a hug. “What can I say, it’s a gift. Though, let’s not forget my parents, the chance to be embarrassed still exists.” Clay smiles. “What are your plans for tomorrow night?” Jeff asks, standing beside his car door.

“Uh, nothing,” Clay replies. “Maybe homework.”

“No way, homework Sunday,” Jeff says. “There’s a party tomorrow night. We should go.”

Clay feels his stomach twist. “It’s not at Bryce’s, is it?”

“Ugh no, fuck that guy,” Jeff says. “He might _be_ there, but I think we can avoid him if we try. You in?”

Clay pauses, thinking. “Okay, sure. Since you’ve been studying so hard lately.”

Jeff chuckles and leans in to give Clay a kiss. “Alright, sounds good. I’ll pick you up. Text me tomorrow, okay?”

Clay nods, and steps back so that Jeff can open his door. “Okay, I will. Drive safe.”

Jeff smiles and nods, climbing into the car, tossing his bag onto the front seat. “Tell your parents thanks again.”

Clay nods, and gives Jeff a wave. “I will.”

Jeff starts the engine and backs slowly out of the driveway. He gives Clay a wave before driving off down the street.

Clay takes a deep breath and sighs, turning to look back at the house. “Okay,” he says quietly to himself, nodding as he takes the stairs. “Okay. Not bad.”

\+ + + + +

Jeff winds his way through the crowd of people towards Clay, reaching out to gently brush his fingers against his back, getting his attention.

“Hey,” Clay says, glancing behind him.

“How’s it going over here?” Jeff asks, leaning in so he doesn’t have to speak loudly.

“Uh, yeah, it’s good,” Clay says, and he looks back at Hannah. “Uh, Jeff, this is Hannah, from the Crestmont.”

“Hi,” Hannah says, lifting her hand to Jeff in a brief wave. They’ve seen each other in the hallways and whenever Jeff goes to the movies, but they’ve never actually had a conversation, and only know of each other through what Clay tells them.

“Hey!” Jeff says, smiling. “If you’re here and Clay’s here, who’s running the theater?”

Clay just rolls his eyes, but he feels himself instantly getting more comfortable in Jeff’s presence, leaning back against him just a bit.

“How’s it going?” Jeff continues. “Having fun?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Hannah says, looking around. “I mean, not really. Just a lot of dumb drunk jocks.” She sees the cup in Jeff’s hand and then smiles. “No offence.”

“None taken,” Jeff grins, taking a gulp of his drink.

“Actually, offence,” Clay says, “he is a dumb drunk jock, he has all insults coming.”

“Well, I’ll give you two-out-of-three,” Jeff says. “But it feels like I’ve been working on this beer for like an hour. At this point I think Clay’s more buzzed than me. I think I’m going to go find a refill. Hannah, can I get you anything?”

Hannah looks a little flustered at Jeff’s politeness, and Clay smiles at the effect he has on her, because he knows the feeling, but she just shakes her head. “Oh, no, thanks. I should probably get going anyway, I still want to fit in some homework tonight before bed.”

“Shit, she’s a better person than us,” Jeff says, looking at Clay.

“Yep, I always knew it,” Clay agrees, and he’s pulled into a quick hug by Hannah, who quickly whispers _”bravo”_ against his neck.

“Hannah, pleasure,” Jeff says as she gives him another wave as she walks away from the two of them. “She’s pretty.”

“Yeah,” Clay replies softly, watching her leave the party.

“Not as pretty as you, but…”

Clay snorts in amusement and rolls his eyes. “Okay, now I _know_ you’re drunk.”

“Oh yeah, I wanted a refill,” Jeff remembers suddenly, and he scans the kitchen. “You want anything?”

Clay shakes his head. “Nope, still good with this one.”

Jeff grabs a new cup from the sleeve left on the counter, and uncaps a bottle of rum left on the counter beside it. He pours some in, then walks just past Clay to the refrigerator, finding a can of Coke. He mixes the drink, takes a sip, and flashes a smile at Clay. “Alright, now what?”

“I think there’s a beer pong tournament out on the lawn,” Clay suggests, and he twists to look out the window over the sink, seeing the game in process in the backyard. “You could go win, show everybody up so I don’t have to be embarrassed to be seen with you.”

“Ha ha,” Jeff says sarcastically, and he moves closer to Clay. Anyone who was watching them might just think that the two of them were trying to have a regular conversation in semi-privacy, not knowing that the topic that Jeff was about to bring up. “I think I have a better idea.”

Clay looks up to meet his eyes over the rim of his cup. “Yeah?” he asks, and he takes a sip, his mouth suddenly dry.

Jeff leans down and gently brushes his lips against Clay’s neck. “Come upstairs with me.”

Clay accidentally takes a huge gulp of his drink, coughing suddenly. “Uh, seriously? What?”

Jeff smiles. “Come on,” he says, nodding towards the staircase. “I won’t bite. Nobody will notice, come on.”

Clay looks around. Sure enough, nobody is paying any attention to either of them, everyone in their own little worlds of drinking games and conversations. Some people are just staring at their phones. 

Jeff turns and gently pushes his way through the crowd, giving a quick glance behind him as he takes the first step to make sure that Clay is following him. He is. Jeff squeezes by a couple people on the stairs, glancing left and right when he reaches the top. He’s been up here a couple times before, and knows where the master bedroom is. He lifts his hand to gesture to Clay to keep following behind him, then glances into the large room, the door half-closed, to see if anyone else was already in there. He pushes open the door enough to walk through, then waits by it for Clay to walk in behind him.

“This room is the size of my kitchen and living room combined,” Clay says, looking around.

Jeff shuts the door and locks it, leaning back against the wood. “Yeah, it’s nice.” He reaches over to the large dresser near the door and puts down his cup.

“I assume you just invited me up here to talk?” Clay asks, but a couple moments later he smiles.

“Ah, you got me,” Jeff laughs, walking towards him. “ _No_ , Clay. I mean, if you want to talk, I’m not going to stop you, but I thought I could do something else.”

“What?” Clay asks, sitting down on the edge of the king-sized bed, taking a drink.

“Let me show you,” Jeff says. “Trust me.” He’s standing in front of Clay, then carefully moves to his knees in front of him. “It’ll be fun.”

“Promise?” Clay asks, looking into Jeff’s eyes.

“Mm-hmm,” Jeff nods. He reaches up and carefully takes the cup out of Clay’s hands, setting it down away from them, then leans back in to kiss him. He rests his hands on Clay’s knees, then, gently rubs them, slowly moving up his thighs as their mouths move together. 

Clay moves his hands to Jeff’s neck, pulling him in. Jeff groans softly then his hands go to Clay’s waist, finding the zipper on his jeans. Jeff breaks away from the kiss and drops down, pressing his mouth to Clay’s stomach as he drags the zipper down. 

“Jeff,” Clay moans softly, holding him close. “Jeff, we can’t, not here.”

Jeff looks up at him, then stands up. He pulls off his shirt and tosses it. He toes off his sneakers as he undoes his own jeans, pushing them off his hips, stepping out of them, kicking them to the side. He debates for a second, then gets rid of his boxer briefs too. He’s half-hard already, and Clay is at _just_ the perfect height…

Clay realizes it too, and he swallows hard, looking up at Jeff. “Do you want me to—?”

Jeff shakes his head. “Not now,” he replies. He _wants_ Clay to, for sure, but first he wants to make Clay feel good. He jerks his head towards the headboard. “Move up.”

Clay shakily glances behind them, then presses his hands to the mattress, pushing himself back towards the pillows. He watches as Jeff smiles, then crawls toward him, his body moving above him, arms framing him.

Jeff kisses Clay again, urgently, his mouth open against Clay’s, and he reaches between them to slide his hand into Clay’s boxers. Clay’s hand moves fast and grabs Jeff’s wrist. Jeff breaks away from him to glance down between them. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Clay steals a glance towards the door, as if just remembering that there’s a party going on around them, just down the stairs, dozens of their classmates. “What if someone comes in?” he asks quietly.

“They won’t, it’s locked,” Jeff says, but he doesn’t push any further, or try to move his hand.

“Yeah, but what if Troy—”

“I already told Troy to fuck off and that I needed the room,” Jeff admits. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him I was with you.” He kisses Clay gently. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want, you know that. And I know maybe a party isn’t the _ideal_ —” He swallows hard when Clay’s hand finally moves; instead of pushing his hand away, he pulls it in, guiding him to the waistband of his boxers. “Setting,” Jeff finishes awkwardly, pushing his hand under the fabric, finding Clay hard underneath. “This is okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Clay nods, taking a sharp breath. His arms are back around Jeff’s shoulders, pulling him into a kiss. Jeff shifts above him, taking the weight off his arm, settling onto Clay instead, his hips starting to work gently against his. 

Jeff lips move from Clay’s mouth down to his throat, pressing wet kisses there. He shifts again, keeping one hand wrapped around Clay, the other tugging at Clay’s shirt. Clay awkwardly pushes himself up just enough to get his shirt off before falling back against the pillows. With more skin bared, Jeff moves down further, his hand still moving around Clay, sliding up and down in even strokes, pressing kisses against his chest.

“Fuck, Jeff,” Clay whines softly, head pressed back into the pillows, back arching into Jeff’s grasp.

Jeff chuckles quietly, looking up to see Clay’s eyes squeezed shut, one hand thrown back above his head, grasping at the pillows. His other hand is pressed against Jeff’s shoulder, not pushing him down, just clutching at him. Jeff pushes himself up on his knees, moving his hands to Clay’s jeans, starting to tug them down. 

Clay pushes himself up on his elbows to watch Jeff, lifting his hips, then his legs, to help him out, but he’s sort of stunned into silence as he realizes what’s happening, though he remembers to toe off his shoes and kick them to the side so Jeff can actually get his pants off. Jeff moves back over him, hooking his fingers onto the waistband of his boxers, then his eyes look up to meet Clay’s.

“I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Jeff says, “so…”

“Uh…” Clay sort of stares at Jeff, unsure of what to say. “Uh, no, I’m, I’m…are _you_ sure? I mean, you haven’t done this before, have you?”

“Uh, no,” Jeff chuckles, “but there’s a first time for everything. And I’ve been watching a lot of porn.”

“Oh, wow,” Clay breathes, because that mental image is just fantastic. “I’m just…”

Jeff leans up as far as he can to give Clay another quick kiss. “So this is okay?”

“Yeah, if it’s okay with you,” Clay replies.

Jeff moves down Clay’s body and tugs on his boxers as Clay lifts his hips. “More than okay with me.” He drops Clay’s boxers off the bed, then settles down between his legs, taking hold of Clay again. He hesitantly eyes Clay in his hand, then looks up to look at him. He opens his mouth over Clay and his eyes flutter closed as he takes him in, sucking gently.

“Oh fuck,” Clay cries loudly, and he quickly turns his head, pressing it into the pillow.

Jeff isn’t sure how much he can do right now, being willing to try doesn’t mean that he thinks he’ll be good at it, but he revels in the feeling and taste of Clay in his mouth, moaning around him. He doesn’t try to take too much of him in, and he keeps his fist stroking, but he doesn’t think that Clay minds. He’s whimpering endlessly above him, hips arching against him. Jeff moves slowly, taking more of him in, swallowing around him.

“Jeff, Jeff,” Clay pants, “I can’t.” He groans, and his hand flies down, fingers grasping at Jeff’s hair. Jeff doesn’t mind, it doesn’t _hurt_ , but the insistent pressure lets him know just how close Clay already is. Jeff doesn’t want to stop, but he has to know; he pulls off briefly, licking his lips, and looks up at him, “how does it feel?”

“Ah-amazing,” Clay says. Jeff presses a couple wet kisses to the shaft, then takes Clay back in his mouth with a deep breath, his hand still slowly sliding up and down. He wants to reach down and take himself in hand, he’s so hard, he can feel himself hanging heavily between his legs, slick head brushing against the comforter when he shifts. But he wants to keep focusing on Clay, and making him finish first. It doesn’t take long.

“Jeff, I think I’m gonna come,” Clay says suddenly.

Jeff murmurs, sucking on the head, earning a bitter splash of precum when he hears Clay quickly say _”yeah”_ , his fingers tightening in his hair. Jeff pulls off just as Clay’s hips lift up, stroking him quickly as Clay shoots onto his stomach, the last bit of come sliding down onto Jeff’s fingers as he keeps moving his fist. Jeff can’t help it, he hadn’t really planned on swallowing, but he drops his mouth again, first licking his fingers, then briefly licking at the head of Clay’s dick, before moving to Clay’s stomach, licking at the come just above his hips. 

Clay’s eyes are closed and his breathing is heavy. It’s the longest he’s lasted so far, and though he’s still a little embarrassed, he knows better now than to mention it to Jeff; he knows Jeff doesn’t care, that he understands. He’s just happy he didn’t come the instant Jeff got his mouth on him. He shifts on the bed, feeling Jeff looking at him, and he opens his eyes. “Did you invite me to this party just to give me a blowjob?” Clay asks quietly as Jeff moves to lay down beside him.

“Not _just_ , no,” Jeff says, “but are you complaining?”

Clay shakes his head with a smile. “No, not really. I just…wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

“But it was okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Clay assures him. “You want me to…pay you back?” The question sounds fucking stupid as soon as he says it.

Jeff laughs sharply. “Clay, I didn’t do it so you’d _pay me back_. I did it because you’re my boyfriend and I wanted to.” He carefully takes Clay’s chin between his thumb and finger and tilts his head towards him, giving him a kiss. “Knowing everything is new to you, it’s kind of— I like it. I like knowing I was the first to do that.” 

“I like that too,” Clay admits softly. And god, he really does. Before he and Jeff first hooked up, Clay had thought about sex a lot, of course, in general and him specifically having it. But he never really imagined who the first person would be. He knew he’d have a first time, and a first blowjob, and a first everything, but there was never a face to the person he’d be sharing that all with. The fact that it’s Jeff frigging Atkins, he can’t fucking believe it. But he _really_ likes it.

Jeff’s mouth suddenly waters and he looks between them where he’s still hard, dick red and heavy between his legs. “I’d do it again right now, actually.”

“Ha, yeah? Really?” 

“Mm-hmm,” Jeff nods, and kisses him, rolling over until Clay’s on his back and Jeff is covering him again. “I kind of liked it,” he murmurs against Clay’s mouth, before slipping his tongue out.

Clay groans into his mouth and pushes his fingers through Jeff’s hair, the other hand grasping at his shoulder, pulling him in deep. Jeff’s hands are on his hips, tilting them up so the two of them fit together on the bed. Clay breaks away, and Jeff’s mouth moves to just under his ear. “What else?” he asks, breathing heavily.

Jeff lifts his head, looking down at Clay, smiling at how totally blissed out he looks. “What else what?”

“What else do you want to be the first to do?” Clay asks. “To— to me.”

Jeff groans loudly. “Fuck, Clay, you have no idea.”

“Tell me then,” Clay says, keeping his eyes on Jeff’s. 

“Yeah?” Jeff asks, smiling. “You want me to tell you that I want to fuck you so badly sometimes I can’t think of anything else?” He angles his hips and bears down slow and hard against Clay.

Clay whimpers as his back arches. “Ye— yes, yes,” he stutters, head nodding shakily. “Yes, tell me.”

Jeff braces himself above Clay, his head hanging low near Clay’s ear. “I think about how you’re going to feel around me. How fucking _hot_ it’s going to be to watch my dick go into your ass.”

“Holy fuck,” Clay cries. Part of him is telling him _this is wrong, Clay, and weird, you should be embarrassed_ but the overwhelming majority of his body is just turned on, dick getting hard again.

“Do you think about me fucking you?” Jeff asks, and he hooks his arms under Clay’s legs, spreading them. Clay squeezes his eyes shut, he feels too open, he can’t, but he takes it as a personal victory that he’s not pushing Jeff off and slamming his knees together. “Clay, tell me.” He wraps his hand around Clay again.

Clay’s breath hitches, and he nods frantically. “I think, I think about it. _Yes_.”

“Like this?” Jeff thrusts against him, and it’s so much like they’re already fucking, Jeff is close to coming. But he wants to hold off as long as he can until he hears Clay say it.

“Yes, and—” Clay gulps, trying to catch his breath long enough for him to speak, but Jeff’s hand on him is just too much.

“And?”

“I think about riding you,” Clay says quickly, “when I’m top of you and you’re hard I can feel you against me, and then when I’m home sometimes I use my fingers—”

“Shit, Clay,” Jeff groans, finally coming, shooting over Clay’s stomach. He keeps thrusting weakly against him as his breathing slows, and he keeps his fist working. Clay’s coming again just a few moments later, voice breaking as he cries out loudly.

“Holy shit,” Clay mutters, blinking wildly, looking up at Jeff like he can’t believe what’s happened. “That was…”

“Intense,” Jeff finishes, and Clay nods in agreement.

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Clay continues, and Jeff obviously knows that, but he doesn’t say anything. “I’ve never _said_ anything like that, I mean, that was like, I have no idea where that came from.”

Jeff just can’t stand it anymore, he drops down onto the mattress with a laugh, rolling onto his side. “That wasn’t even that bad. I’ve heard worse.”

“You _have_?” Clay asks sharply, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“Don’t worry Clay, not from anybody…not in _person_ ,” Jeff says. “But you should hear some of the shit the guys say in the locker room.”

“Ugh, no thank you,” Clay says, laying back down. He looks around the room, remembering for the first time in minutes that they’re not in Jeff’s room. They’re at a house party. Everybody outside that bedroom door goes to their school. Suddenly Clay feels flushed and embarrassed, sitting up.

“Hey, you okay?” Jeff asks.

Clay nods. “Yeah, it just hit me all of a sudden that I’m naked and everybody from my math class could be listening in right now.”

Jeff laughs lightly, but he doesn’t want to make Clay feel bad for being a little freaked out. “I think they’ve all got better things got do, but you’re right. We should get dressed and head back down.” He pushes himself off the bed and starts collecting his clothes.

Clay moves slower, feeling a little shaky on his legs, but after a couple minutes, they’re both dressed, and he feels a bit more confident about going back downstairs. He quietly opens the door and peeks his head out, hearing the sounds of the party rush in, but there’s nobody nearby. He glances behind him at Jeff then steps out of the room, heading towards the stairs. There are a couple people sitting near the bottom step, but he just squeezes by, as casual as possible, and heads back towards the kitchen where they were earlier.

“Jeff!” someone calls out immediately, and Clay turns back to watch Jeff grin and raise his hand, walking over. It’s one of the guys on the team, who’s holding two cups in his hand. “Dude, where have you been, we need you for beer pong! You in?”

“Sure,” Jeff agrees easily, taking the cup. He raises it to Clay, then gestures towards the back door. “Beer pong!”

Clay kind of rolls his eyes, but he follows Jeff out to the backyard, earning a couple nods from people who notice him.

Jeff takes his spot at one end of the table, looking back at Clay. “You gotta stay, you’re my good luck charm,” he says quietly.

Clay has to bite his lip to keep from smiling. He wants to feel annoyed, he wants to walk to the quietest corner of the house and take out his phone, but he doesn’t. He’s just happy to be with his boyfriend. “Yeah?”

Jeff smiles and nods.

“Kiss for good luck?” Clay asks, feeling bold, and suddenly possessive. Jeff is his boyfriend, after all. Who knows who might be at the party, thinking they have a chance with him.

Jeff looks slightly taken aback, eyes quickly moving around the people at the party before falling back on Clay. “Yeah?” he asks.

Clay shrugs casually, but on the inside he feels anything but. “Just one, though.”

Jeff grins and leans down, giving Clay quick kiss, straightening back up and raising his hand to catch the pingpong ball being thrown at him. “Alright, Charm, hopefully that works. I need to keep my crown!” He raises both hands into the air, and a small number of people around them start to cheer.

“Oh, shut up Jeff, just toss the ball.”

Jeff glances at Clay and gives him a wink, before making the first play.

Clay looks around behind him, realizing there was almost no reaction, if any, to them. He sees an empty lawn chair next to a couple of girls who are talking to each other quietly. He recognizes them as girlfriends of other people on the baseball team, and shrugs before taking a seat. He watches the game for a few moments before digging into his pocket, taking out his phone. He has a text message from Hannah that she must’ve sent just after leaving the party.

_Bravo, Helmet_

Clay grins immediately, and it’s impossible to stifle. He quickly types out a response.

_That obvious?_

He looks up to watch Jeff play, but out of the corner of his eye he can see the three grey dots as Hannah types her response.

_Yeah but I wouldn’t worry about it, we go to school with idiots_

Clay laughs to himself, and one of the girls near him gives him an odd look, but he just shrugs it off. Hannah’s typing again.

_I’m sure Jeff could probably fight them off for you, but if you need the help, I’ll deck em_

Clay laughs again, sends off a quick _thanks_ , then sticks his phone back in his pocket. He claps loudly and gives a loud whoo, earning him another wink and a bright grin. He doesn’t want to seem _too_ antisocial, especially since now he has a reason not to be. Since Jeff Atkins is his boyfriend, and fucking _killing it_ at beer pong.

**Author's Note:**

> more Jeff/Clay, yay! if this is half as well-received as the first part was, I'll be super happy. I'm still not sure where I want to take this, but there is another chapter to this in progress, that hopefully feels less rushed and has more plot (dinner time). enjoy!


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